I already know what people are going to say but I figured I would ask since there are so many arguments going on, played out in the media, about the removal of them from certain venues.

On another note, since I have found out about this whole thing regarding the second command I been noticing all the depictions of Jesus that there are out there. I am a firefighter and go into a lot of peoples homes. I work in a heavy Catholic area, there is a church a block away from my station with a 30ft tall statue of Jesus with a crown and holding two fingers up like a "peace" symbol but with his fingers together. Almost everyone has pictures, or statues, of Jesus or Mary or some saint in there house. The really dedicated ones have statues, along with a shrine in there front yards of Mary.

These are the Catholics, the black people all have pictures of Jesus, the apostles, Moses and most of the OT figures depicted as black people.

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Erick Bohndorf, Covenant Baptist Church, KS
http://qayaqtraveler.blogspot.com/
The question for us today is, will we be like the majority of Israel and continue to look in fear at the giants in the land and urge our fellow Christians to be "realistic," or will we be like Joshua and Caleb and faithfully follow our king, trusting to fulfill every one of his promises completely?

Secular Humanists want nativity scenes removed because it violates their pluralist principles. This makes it tempting for evangelical Protestants to side with those who wish to retain them, but the bottom line is that they are a violation of the second commandment. Consequently, we need to stay out of these disputes. It is not a battle we need to get involved in.

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Daniel Ritchie
Saintfield, Northern Ireland - Queen's University, Belfast:History/Politics
Member of Dromara Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland (Covenanter)

Yes, they are a violation of the Second Commandment.

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Josh Hicks, Chloë's Daddy
Member of TRBC. My Blog
The Puritan Pub (Team Blog)
Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

I would view then as a violation as well. Of course I'm probably a little slanted about this since I'm not a big fan of the christ-mass to begin with but thats another discussion altogether.

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1689 Baptist Confession

Psa 55:16 As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me.
Psa 55:17 Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.
James Farley, Wilderness Road Baptist Assembly.
Husband of Melissa and father of Ann.
www.wildernessroadbaptist.org

I'm definitely against nativity scenes in general, but there was one I saw year before last that I kind of enjoyed. It had all the usual figures except there was no baby or manger. In the place of these was a sign that read "He is not here. He is risen!"

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~James Helbert~, Wytheville, VA
Providence Reformed Presbyterian Church, RPCUS
TheBibleAlone.com / The Edinburgh Inn
"Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” - Zechariah 3:2

In our previous Reformed Baptist Church I knew someone who had a nativity scene in their house but replaced the baby Jesus with a cradle and a parchment paper inside the cradle that read "In the beginning was the word and the Word was God.. etc." They made it themselves out of clay and it looked very profession to match the rest of the Nativity set....

I thought it was a great Idea........

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Michael Daniels
Reformed, RPCNA
Denton, Maryland

[i][b]As For Me And My House, We Will Serve The Lord[/i][/b]

[SIZE="1"][I][FONT="Century Gothic"]Unum Deum in Trinitate: Pater, Filius, et Spiritus Sanctus [RIGHT]Sola scriptura - Sola gratia - Sola fide - Solus Christus - Soli Deo gloria - Solum psalterium - Lex talionis[/RIGHT][/FONT][/I][/SIZE]

Even if there is no idolatry present, there's also a question of portraying three wise men in nativity scenes.

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Chris Coldwell
Lakewood Presbyterian Church (PCA), Member
• Naphtali Press: Presbyterian & Reformed Books
• The Confessional Presbyterian, A Journal for Discussion of Presbyterian Doctrine & Practice
• The Blue Banner Archive

When heresy rises in an evangelical body, it is never frank and open. It always begins by skulking, and assuming a disguise. Its advocates, when together, boast of great improvements, and congratulate one another on having gone greatly beyond the ‘old dead orthodoxy,’ and on having left behind many of its antiquated errors: but when taxed with deviations from the received faith, they complain of the unreasonableness of their accusers, as they ‘differ from it only in words.’ This has been the standing course of errorists ever since the apostolic age. Samuel Miller, Introductory essay, The Articles of the Synod of Dort (1841).

Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

Well put. No Christ-mass = no nativity scenes at Christ-mass.

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Daniel Ritchie
Saintfield, Northern Ireland - Queen's University, Belfast:History/Politics
Member of Dromara Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland (Covenanter)

Am I not right in saying that there was three gifts, not three wise men?

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Daniel Ritchie
Saintfield, Northern Ireland - Queen's University, Belfast:History/Politics
Member of Dromara Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland (Covenanter)

Forgive my stupiity Chris....what do the Wise Men have to do with it?

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~etexas~

I don't think the wise men arrived until after they left that manger in Bethlehem. I mean, how many months are you going to live with those stinky animals before you finally get a clue and get something in the city?

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We don't know how many wise men there were from scripture, and when they found Christ, it was some time, possibly two years if we use the age of the child[ren] Herod murdered, and they were living in a house.

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Chris Coldwell
Lakewood Presbyterian Church (PCA), Member
• Naphtali Press: Presbyterian & Reformed Books
• The Confessional Presbyterian, A Journal for Discussion of Presbyterian Doctrine & Practice
• The Blue Banner Archive

When heresy rises in an evangelical body, it is never frank and open. It always begins by skulking, and assuming a disguise. Its advocates, when together, boast of great improvements, and congratulate one another on having gone greatly beyond the ‘old dead orthodoxy,’ and on having left behind many of its antiquated errors: but when taxed with deviations from the received faith, they complain of the unreasonableness of their accusers, as they ‘differ from it only in words.’ This has been the standing course of errorists ever since the apostolic age. Samuel Miller, Introductory essay, The Articles of the Synod of Dort (1841).

Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

Since the second commandment doesn't forbid depictions of historical figures (Mary, Joseph, shedards, etc) only dipictions of God, then...

No, they are not forbidden. As long as you do not try to place an image of Christ in the creche.

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Kevin Rogers
Sovereign Community Church, PCA
Moncton NB

Leon Morris suggested that Christ may even have been born in the open-air because of the nature of the manager. Consequently, they probably would have been in a house by the time the wise men arrived.

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Daniel Ritchie
Saintfield, Northern Ireland - Queen's University, Belfast:History/Politics
Member of Dromara Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland (Covenanter)

Cool! I get you. For a few minutes I thought you had a beef with wise guys.

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~etexas~